Your Brain

Joe Becker, Julia Manzella, & Evan McLean

The brain is one of the most important things in our bodies and can be influenced by many things, such as...

Neurotransmitters

Neurotransmitters are chemicals which send out nerve impulses in the brain.

Different foods can affect a person's mood based on the release of certain neurotransmitters into the brain from different nutrients. These nutrients can also interact with each other and change these reactions, and the amount of specific nutrients present in any particular food affects the number of neurotransmitters that are produced.

• High-protein foods boost alertness and mental activity.
• Carbohydrates lead to relaxation and less stress.
• Caffeine, in reasonable quantities, can be an effective anti-depressant.
• Folic acid is another known counter to depression.
• A lack of selenium in one's diet leads to irritability, anxiety, depression, and hostility.
• Choline, found mainly in high-cholesterol foods like eggs, improves memory and concentration.

Drugs also affect the release of neurotransmitters. They can stop or speed up chemical reactions that create neurotransmitters, prevent them from reaching the places they are supposed to be, and block other "messengers" to the brain. Overall, drugs can seriously cripple the nervous system in ways that can usually only be fixed through treatment for drug addiction.

How foods affect the brain's ability to learn

Foods not only affect the impulses in the brain but also how well the brain will retain information. The website Focus on Your Child has come up with a diagram that helps parents give the children the things they need to keep their brain functioning at its full potential. They call it the ABC's, and it looks like this:

• Acquire knowledge of nutrient-dense foods
• Add variety and fun to meal plans
• Balance nutrients throughout the entire day
• Be aware of your child’s age- and stage-appropriate needs
• Consistently provide easy to make and nutritious meals
• Create a healthy lifestyle for your family

Some of the most important things that are needed in order to keep your brain running functionally are water, proteins, carbohydrates, fats, vitamins and minerals.

Food Addiction

A person's brain can become addicted to food, sending out signals that you need the food when it is actually unnecessary, which leads to rapid weight gain and often severe obesity. Food addiction is very much like drug addiction. An addiction is defined as:

“A state of physiological or psychological dependency on a drug liable to have a damaging effect.”

Have you ever wondered why smokers can’t just quit whenever they want? Well, this is because they are addicted. This is mainly because of the nicotine in the cigarettes speeds up thecentral nervous system and the brain by releasing a chemical that makes you feel calm and may make you feel more alert.  Of course the food that we eat doesn’t contain nicotine but it’s the same in the sense the food still gives off stimulates to the brain. This sensation can cause an addiction and the problem with the addiction is that you can’t control how much you eat and it leads to obesity.  There are addicting foods like sugar and caffeine is because of neurotransmitters.  Neurotransmitters are pretty much the reasons why people can’t control themselves when eating some food, because like when the cigarette lets out the nicotine it is a neurotransmitter just like the foods.  Many people are eating to fill their emotions, and because the neurotransmitters helps give you emotions that you want, people eat more and more and eat an uncontrollable amount.  This then becomes an addiction when they need the food and they don’t end up realizing how much they actually ate.  They begin to have regular cravings, and you eat them regularly in uncontrollable amounts.  This is a severe problem for most sugary food and even fast foods.  When things like this happen you need to fight back by holding back the craving and distracting your mind with something else.  This will mostly work with minor addictions, and it's important, because if you don't stop when it's a little addiction it may become a big one.

Video about addiction-

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EXXpcONL5ig

Works Cited

<http://mtsu.edu/~studskl/food.html>

<http://www.utexas.edu/research/asrec/drugs.html>

"Save us from ourselves" Paul King. Food Service Director. April 15, 2007.

     <http://galenet.galegroup.com/servlet/HWRC/hits?>

"Consumed by an addiction" Alison Jenkins. Nursing Standard. March 29, 2006.

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